Sea-sounding apparatus.



. PATENTED 'APR. 7 190a.

M. T. PARKS.

SBA somwme APPARATUS.

APPLICATION PILIFD JUNE 5,1907 4 sHEnTs SEEET 1.

M Li vi A 55% d r g f PATENTED APR. v 1908. T. PARKS. SEA sormnmeAPPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5,1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' Y 7 'PATENTED APR.7 1908. M. T. PARKS. I

SEA SOUNDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5,1907.

4 SHBETS-SHBBT 4.

. which the following UNITED STATES MURRAY THOMAS PARKS, OF LYDD,ENGLAND.

SEA-SOUN DIN G APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April '7, 1908.

Application filedJune 5, 1907. Serial No. 377,413.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MURRAY THOMAS PARKS, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Lydd, in the county of Kent, England, have inventednewand useful Improvements in Sea-Sounding Apparatus, of

is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to construct apparatus forheaving a lead mechanically, and to combine therewith apparatus wherebythe amount of line out may be readily and accurately ascertained.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of the a paratus for heaving the lead, partof tFe frame being broken away for the sake of clearness. Fig. 2 is alsoa side elevation of the same apparatus with the lead raised and inposition'to be heaved. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the part of theapparatus for guiding the lead correctly onto the wire upon which itruns. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, seen inthe direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 5 is a plan of that part ofthe apparatus shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the cagefor raising the lead, and Fig. 7 is a cross section on the line 7-7 ofFig. 6. Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively side and end elevations of thelead. Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the same. Figs. 10 and 11 arerespectively a side elevation and plan of the apparatus for releasingthe lead from the carrying wire. Fig. 12 is a rear elevation of thesame. Fig. 13 is a front elevation of the front part only of saidapparatus. Fig. 14 is a side elevation and Fig. 15 is a plan of thedrumwhich carries the wire or cord attached to the lead. Fig. 16 is adiagram showing a side elevation of the complete apparatus.

In carrying the invention into effect I employ a lead at, having twolaterally projecting wings b, c, the ends of which are shaped as hooks,by means of one or other of which latter the lead a travels along astretched and inclined wire (1, thus obtaining velocity by which it isthrown the required distance in front of the ship 6. These wings b, c,are attached to a collar fpassing around the lead a. This collar f mustbe capable of rotating freely around the lead.

The exterior surface of the collar f is flush with the exterior of thelead. Any suitable bearing may be provided between the collar f and thelead. When the collar f is made from a single piece of metal as shownthe lead may be made in two pieces which are connected In Fig. 9 theleft hand portion of the lead a has an internally screwed sleeve and theright hand portion has a screw threaded projection screwing into thesleeve.

The lead a is raised in a pivoted cage or frame 9 until one of the hooksb or c has engaged the stretched wire d. The lead a is attached to oneend of a flexible wire it, which is wound on a drum i. This latter hasmeans, such as the handle i, whereby it may be rotated to wind in thelead a, and it is also provided with means whereby, as soon as the leadstrikes the sea bottom, all the slack wire h is taken up by a suitablemultiplying gear, which is arranged to act very rapidly. In conjunctionwith the drum 2', I employ suitable gearing y' for indicating, by meansof the scale 7c on one of the gear wheels and a fixed hand it, theamount of wire 7L run out. The multiplying gear has sufficient power andspeed to rapidly take up the slack but it is not able to lift the lead afrom the bottom.

In one method of carrying the invention into efiect as shown in thedrawings, I employ a pulley Z over which the line It passes from thedrum i. The line it has an enlargement h thereon which, when the line ishauled in, comes into contact with one pair of arms m, m, of a doublebell-crank lever n, n, fixed on the axles 0 carrying the pulley Z. Thebell-crank levers n, n, are arranged on each side of the m, m, arearranged at such a distance apart that they are engaged by theenlargement h on the line it but allow t e line to pass freelytherethrough whenthe lead a begins to run down its wire (Z and thebell-cranks n, n, and ca e 9 fall back into their original position.05161 arms of this bell-crank lever 91 have pins or rollers 11/ workingin the two slotted arms of a lever 29, which latter is fulcrumed at itslower part at p. The upper part, connecting the two arms of this lever,has a roller p which runs over a cam surface 9 on the cage 9 for thelead a, which cage 9 is pivoted at n to the front end of the bell cranklevers n. The cage 9 is prolonged at g, beyond the points where it ispivoted to the bell-crank levers, and is weighted so that the cageportion proper g has a normal tendency to remain in a position, as shownat Fig. 1,

pulley Z, and their front arms together 1n any convenient manner.

somewhat behind the vertical and out of the way of the lead a when thelatter is being hauled in. When the lead a is hauled in, the enlargementh on the line it rocks the bell-crank levers n, which latter move theslotted lever 19, which in its turn, by means of the roller 1), acts onthe cam surface (1 of the cage 9 and causes this latter to move throughan angle until it has nearly assumed a horizontal position, as shown atFig. 2, and also raised the lead a to the same position, so that one ofthe hooks b or c has engaged the wire d.

In order to insure the engagement of one of the hooks b or c with thewire d, I employ two guide plates 1*, 1", arranged in such a positionthat one or both of the hook-shaped wings comes or come into contactwith the said guide plates 7", r, so that one hook is compelled to passup between two springs s, s, with the open side of the hook close to thestretched wire at. One of the springs (s) is stronger than the other (8)and preferably acts a ainst the end of the hook b or c to ress t islatter over the wire (1.

When the hauling n drum i is released, the cage g falls back and thelead a runs down the wire (1 by gravity. Towards the lower end of thewire I arrange two pairs of rods t, t, at a short distance apart,forming a guide or trough which gradually lifts the lead with respect tothe wire at until its hook is raised with the open part close to orlevel with the wire (I. A suitable cam or guide plate a is here arrangedto wipe the hook sidewise out of contact with the stretched wire d. Theguide terminates at this point and consequently the lead a falls clearof the same into the sea.

The hauling-in drum 2' may have a pulley v on one of its sides, which issmaller than the diameter of the hauling surface. To this pulley v isattached a flexible wire 1;, a loop of which passes over a pulley w, andsupports a weight as, which latter is calculated so that it can rapidlyrotate the drum i to haul in any slack line it should the lead be on thebottom. The pulley t, which is on the side of the drum, is soconstructed that it may be clutched with or unclutched from thehaulingin drum i by sliding along the axle W.

In the drawings the pulley o is shown with pins which enter holes in thedrum i but other forms of clutches may be employed as will be readilyunderstood.

The lead will be generally attached to a line of such length that thelead may sink 2O fathoms. Each time the lead is hove, the indicator willshow 20 fathoms until the ship gets into shallower water, when theindicator will run back and show the exact depth at which the leadstrikes the bottom.

The arms a", n, of the bell-crank levers n, n, merely act tocounter-balance the levers,

- thereby aiding in raising the lead. The arms 2, z", fixed to theframing, act to prevent the lead a swinging laterally when it is hangingby its wire h from the pulley Z.

The apparatus is used in the following manner. The lead is normallyhanging between the arms 2, z. The drum t is rotated, in one direction,thereby rotating the pulley Z, rocking the levers n, n, and bringing thelead a onto the wire d. The drum t is then rotated in the oppositedirection until the lead has arrived at the position indicated in Fig.16. It is then at the same distance from the pulley 1 as this latter isdistant from the keel of the ship which position is indicated on thescale 7c by a circle for instance (preferably red). In Fig. 14 a circleis shown around the Fig. 6. It will be understood that the scale 76 cannever indicate less water than the figure inside the said red circle. Itis therefore unnecessary for the weight a: to return the scale to zero.In this position the lead a just balances the weight w and consequentlydoes not move. When the order is given to heave the lead, the pulley 12,which is loose on the axle i is moved along this latter and is therebyclutched with the drum t, which latter is fixed on the axle The weightso is then raised by the winch so. The

lead a then rapidly runs down the remainder of the wire d, leaves thesame, and withdraws all the wire h from the drum c'. If the lead doesnot strike the bottom, the hand 7c indicates, say 20 fathoms, on theface is. The lead hangs vertically from the pulley l and is wound upbyrotating the drum t until it I again arrives between the arms 2, 2.The drum t has a ratchet wheel i and pawl i when the lead has beenreleased and has unwound the wire h, the pawl i is thrown into gear withthe ratchet wheel i If the lead strikes the bottom, the weight 20immediately rotates the drum 'L, winding up all the slack cord h. Theship travels forward until the pulley '1', arrives vertically above thelead on the bottom. All the slack wire it having been wound on the drum'i, the hand is now indicates the depth of water. As the ship is stilltraveling forward, the lead now endeavors to drag would rotate itbackwards, prevents such backward movement. D1- rectly the scale k stopsmoving, its position is noticed and the lead is again wound up. The pawlt is released before it is possible to allow the lead to run down thewire to the position indicated in Fig. 16.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In sea sounding apparatus, thecombination of a lead, a rotatable collar freely mounted about'thecenter of the lead, and means carried by said collar by which the leadmay be hung on a fixed inclined stretched wire.

2. In sea sounding apparatus, the combination of a lead, a rotatablecollar freely mounted about the center of said lead, and

hooks carried by the collar by means of which the lead may be hung on afixed inclined stretched wire.

3. In sea sounding apparatus, the combination of a lead, a fixedinclined stretched wire, means carried by the lead by which it may behung on to and slide down the said wire, a line attached to said lead, adrum on which said line is wound, and means for releasin the lead fromthe Wire.

4. n sea sounding apparatus, the com bination of a lead, hooks carriedby said lead, a fixed inclined stretched Wire, a line attached to saidlead, an enlargement on said line, means operated by said enlargementfor hanging the lead onto the wire, means for releasing the lead fromsaid wire, a drum on which said line is wound, means for rapidlyrewinding the drum and taking up any slack sounding line, and a pawl forpreventing the drum unwinding after the apparatus has passed the pointat which the lead has struck the bottom.

5. In sea sounding apparatus, the combination of a lead, hooks carriedby said lead, a fixed inclined stretched wire, an enlargement on saidline, means operated by said enlargement for hanging the lead on thewire, means for releasing the lead from said wire, a drum on which saidline is Wound, means for rapidly rewinding the drum and taking up anyslack sounding line, a pawl for preventing the drum 'unwinding after theapparatus has passed the point at which the lead has struck thebottom,and suitable gearing operated by the winding drum to move a scale toindicate the depth of Water where the lead strikes the bottom.

6. In sea sounding apparatus, the combination of a lead, a collar freelymounted on said lead, hooks carried by said collar, a stretched wire,means for raising said lead, and means for guiding one of said hooks sothat it will engage the wire.

7. In sea sounding a paratus, the combination of a lead, a collar freelymounted on said lead, hooks carried by said collar, a stretched wire,means for raising said lead, a

long guide plate and a short guide plate to engage and guide the hooks,a pair of springs facing each other between which the upper hook iscaused to pass, one of said springs being stronger than the other toforce the upper hook laterally over the carrying wire.

8. In sea sounding apparatus, the combination of a lead, a sounding lineattached to said lead, a collar freely mounted on said lead, hookscarried by said collar, a stretched wire, means for guiding one of thehooks onto the stretched wire, a guide to raise the lead with relationto said wire, and a cam to wipe the carrying hook sidewise out ofcontact with said wire.

9. In sea sounding apparatus, the combination of a lead, a sounding wireattached to said lead, a stretched wire, hooks attached to said lead forhanging said lead on the stretched wire, a pulley over which thesounding line passes, an enlargement on the sounding line, a pair oflevers the front ends of which are engaged by said enlargement on thesounding line, a cradle operated by said levers to receive and raise thelead and suitable guiding mechanism to cause one of the hooks to engagethe stretched wire.

10. In sea sounding apparatus, the combination of a lead, a soundingwire attached to said lead, a stretched wire, hooks attached to saidlead for hanging the lead onto said stretched wire, a pulley over whichthe sounding line passes, an enlargement on said sounding wire, a pairof bell crank levers the front ends of which are engaged by saidenlargement, ins carried by the lower members of said be l crank levers,a lever fulcrumed to the frame having slots in which the said pinsengage, a roller carried by the slotted lever, a cradle pivoted to thebell crank levers, and a cam on said cradle with which the said rollerengages.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

MURRAY THOMAS PARKS.

Witnesses:

H. D. JAMESON, A. NUTTING.

